Are you having trouble with patient retention? We find many chiropractic professionals are focused solely on attracting new patients and inadvertently neglect their existing patients. Getting new patients is great and an essential part of operating your practice, but you certainly don’t want to lose the loyal following you’ve built. In fact, it costs more money to get a new patient and returning patients drive a greater ROI. Your happy patients can be your best brand ambassadors, and that’s only a few reasons to invest in patient retention. Here are our tips to keep your patients coming back to your chiropractic practice.
1. Provide Excellent Care
When patients come to your practice, they want more than a diagnosis. You might be having a bad day, but don’t let that get in the way of your patient’s care. If you show poor bedside manner, they will be quick to find a new chiropractor! Keeping your patients informed, displaying compassion, treating them with respect, and following up after treatment is a great place to start with your patient retention strategy as it makes them feel valued.
Be sure to stress to your staff the importance of providing excellent service, as you aren’t the only one to interact with your patients. If your patient hates calling in to make an appointment because of a rude receptionist or constantly deals with billing errors, they might just decide to seek a new chiropractic office.
2. Personalize Your Practice
Your patients want a chiropractor who truly cares about their well-being. By personalizing their experience, you will make them feel like more than just another individual coming through.
You can accomplish this during consultations and office visits by conducting a thorough examination, asking lots of questions, and creating a unique care plan based on your findings. Patients don’t want to be treated with a one-size-fits-all approach to their care, so take the time to explain to them why your strategy meets their personal needs.
Additionally, engaging with patients through an online portal or through email provides you with an outlet to show you care virtually. Write personalized messages and include the patient’s name to ensure they know the message was written just for them. No copied and pasted template here!
3. Make Things Modern
Your patients will appreciate a practice that makes their life easier. With all of today’s technology, there are plenty of opportunities to accomplish this.
You can offer online scheduling, which allows patients to make bookings at their convenience. This feature is incredibly popular, and a recent study found that 81% of patients surveyed would book their doctor’s appointments online if they could.
Another step you can take is to offer additional services online, like completing intake forms. These steps are relatively small on your end, but provide both your patient and your staff with convenience.
4. Get Frequent Feedback
If patients aren’t happy with their appointment, they will most certainly seek a new chiropractor. A great way to determine if you are providing your patients with excellent care is through a patient satisfaction survey. Send one after every visit to gain valuable insight that can improve your reputation. Use those responses to learn what you’re doing well or where you might need to improve.
Giving your patients the opportunity to share their experience makes them feel empowered. Having an easy line of communication and quickly addressing issues that might otherwise go unheard is a great way to improve patient retention. If your patients are particularly happy, ask them to leave you a review online. Improving your online ranking is a great way to give your patient’s a voice and also improve your rating, in turn attracting new patients.
5. Educate & Inform
Educating your patients outside of their individual appointments is a tool to add to your marketing and patient retention strategy. Try hosting educational seminars with other members of the community or start a blog where you can share articles or health tips. This gives yet another outlet to engage with your patients while showcasing your expertise.
You will also want to establish a social media presence and regularly post content to connect with your patients. When your patients hear from you on a regular basis, your practice will be the first thing they think of when they go to schedule their next chiropractic adjustment.
With these tips, you will be off to a great start to retaining your current patient base!